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List of changes in Star Wars re-releases - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following are partial lists of changes in Star Wars re-releases. The commercial success of Star Wars has given George Lucas the opportunity to alter his original trilogy, which is composed of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. Many changes were motivated by George Lucas’s desire to make the original films closer to his vision for them (although he directed only one of the films).

The new versions made heavy use of CGI technology and other new production techniques that emerged in the two decades after the original trilogy was produced. Other changes enhanced the cohesiveness of the films and eliminated continuity errors between the original trilogy and the three prequels (produced in the late 1990s and early 2000s). The changes are controversial, with opponents claiming that these changes detract from the character arc of the films and tend to be more distracting than expedient.

In a September 2004 CNN article, Lucas claimed that the original films were “25 to 30 percent” of what he intended. Despite this statement, the original films were massively popular and regarded as “groundbreaking”, and many of his changes have met with lukewarm reception. Along with obvious changes to various scenes, the re-releases improved the visual and audio quality of the films.

Changes to Star Wars films after the theatrical release aren’t always limited to the original trilogy. In the release of The Phantom Menace DVD, two deleted portions were either partially or completely restored.

According to Lucasfilm, the 2004 Special Edition is the canonical version of the original trilogy, even though the original, unaltered theatrical editions were released September 12, 2006.

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